ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II TO H.E. Mr ALBERTO SALINAS MUÑOZ, NEW AMBASSADOR OF NICARAGUA TO THE HOLY SEE

Thursday, 7 December 1978

Mr Ambassador,

With sincere pleasure I welcome Your Excellency, who presents to me the Letters of Credence as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Nicaragua to the Holy See.

I am well aware—and the words that Your Excellency has just uttered are also a proof of it—that the People of Nicaragua is cordially united with this Apostolic See by deep-rooted ties of spiritual closeness, springing from the centuries­old presence of the Church in those lands, a presence always marked by solidarity with their people and their history. I wish therefore to testify here to my esteem and confidence in your noble country, the daily events of which I am following closely, and not without concern.

Through her continual evangelizing presence, the Church, a "sacrament of salvation", does nothing but carry out her mission of service for men, in order to make the kingdom of God present among them. This kingdom is not only one of peace, justice and love. Hence her constant and self-sacrificing solicitude to revive also in consciences the concern to perfect this land, where the human family grows (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 39). Such beloved goods as human dignity, brotherly union, freedom, excellent fruits of man's nature and enterprise, are spread on earth in the Spirit of the Lord and in accordance with his command (ibid.).

To promote these inalienable values of the person, to create around them the conditions of spiritual, social and cultural life, without the slightest discrimination, in order that each individual may assume responsibly the multiform requirements of human society and commit himself to the more and more positive construction of the community, all this constitutes the indispensable mould of an orderly and peaceful society.

In this active pursuit of the common good, the Church in Nicaragua wishes to continue to participate in a disinterested way, with its own specific means. It wishes to offer its cooperation for the development of all, by means of a complete formation, especially in the moral field, in conformity with the Christian vocation, enabling them to meet their legitimate aspirations, not only on the individual plane, but also on those of the family and the community.

Mr Ambassador, asking the Lord, the giver of every good, to make these resolutions a reality in order that they may be a daily source of concord and of real peaceful collaboration, I also invoke divine favour on the people of Nicaragua, on its leaders and particularly, on this day, on Your Excellency, wishing you success in carrying out your lofty and noble mission.